The daughter’s balcony.
A few months ago our daughter decided to move closer to Sydney. Most daughters need help when moving. The help she needed were both materially and physically. You know how it is! Estate agents are so far removed from presenting reality in their ‘for sale’ advertisements, that I ended up replacing ‘large’ with ‘small’ and expansive water views with ‘a garden-hose’ or a ‘sprinkler’ going around aimlessly.
After narrowing down to an apartment with no water or city views to just rooftops and suburban gardens, Helvi with daughter and I made a move on an apartment that had a large balcony with a sunny northern aspect. It had a reasonable size lounge & kitchen, and three bedrooms, all with build-ins. The building which holds fifty two apartments was still being finished. On arrival we were watching the gardens being put in. We also noticed kitchen cupboards being carried. A hive of activity, one could say. The main building work seemed finished. I did not see any cranes or bull-dozers groaning around. The Estate Agent told us, ‘by the time your daughter needs to put up the lolly (settle) and pay for the apartment, all building work will then all be Hunky Dorey and finished’.
Hunkey Dorey
As sung by Christy’s Minstrels.
Air – “Limerick Races”
One of the boys am I,
That always am in clover;
With spirits light and high,
‘Tis well I’m known all over.
I am always to be found,
A singing in my glory;
With your smiling faces round,
‘Tis then I’m hunkey dorey.
It came to pass that after the daughter managed to buy the new apartment after selling the old one, we were called upon once again to assist in the house-moving. It turned out that the ‘2 honest guys with a truck’ at $100 per hour, were British backpackers trying to make a quick buck. Totally inexperienced, they just hired a truck and honed in on the house-moving industry. The police were called after one of the backpackers threatened to drive off with all our daughters belongings if she did not pay up. This is when we were called upon. We paid them half what they charged but only after they emptied the truck of all of our daughter’s belongings. The police were on our daughter’s side which helped. I can’t imagine another road rage attack on video and on the front paper featuring me laying into British Backpackers.
Soon after I caught the raging cold from the female haircutter with the previous mentioned copious snot trails across her apron. They say colds are opportunistic and attack those that are weak. When the cold subsided I joined bowling, but now feel that a good ‘piss-up’ is in order. It’s been too much and so full-on.
Both of us just now went to the ‘Imperial’ and ordered two Napoli pizzas and a bottle of Deakin Estate Shiraz. ‘Just leave us the cork if we don’t finish the whole bottle,’ I asked the smiling waitress. She agreed, but we finished the whole bottle, and more.
It’s been a busy and trying time. Did we do the right thing?
Can retirees get pissed too sometimes?
Tags: Backpackers, British, Deakin estate, Imperial, Napoli, Pissed, Pizzas, Retirees, Shiraz, Snot, Video
July 29, 2017 at 11:42 am |
At your age, you are allowed almost anything. I haven’t been “pissed” for donkeys but like a nipple almost daily. It is the taste and not the alcohol I’m after.
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July 30, 2017 at 4:43 am |
I like the taste and the alcohol,Berlioz. I like the buzz one gets after a couple. It is Mrs. Euphoria and the lure. Of course, it wears off, but compared with non-stop sobriety I find it less stupefying.
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August 2, 2017 at 3:03 am |
I’d like a nipple with my tipple.
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July 29, 2017 at 1:27 pm |
Of course you’re allowed! Sounds like it was just what was needed. Am ashamed that the van drivers were British. Hope your daughter enjoys her new apartment.
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July 30, 2017 at 4:47 am |
Hoping I wasn’t slighting ‘British’. it could just as easily have been Dutch back-packers, Jenny.
My daughter is very happy. It is such a cheerful apartment. Her kids are very happy, more or les the same distance from their respective schools.
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July 30, 2017 at 5:47 am
Good heavens, no, I didn’t take it that way! Just shows that our dregs make it to the other side of the globe. Good for us, maybe, to have lost a couple – albeit for just a while😉
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July 29, 2017 at 3:59 pm |
You did right! “Scientific Studies Show, get Shikkered on Shiraz!” full of antioxidants
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July 30, 2017 at 4:49 am |
Are they ‘peer reviewed,’ Robert?
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July 30, 2017 at 1:19 pm
Yes all the scientists were out drinking on the pier at the time
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July 29, 2017 at 7:47 pm |
Life offers us more opportunities to be of help–over and over. I Glad all ended well and proper. Change your barber Gerard when you get well.
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July 30, 2017 at 5:21 am |
I will try and get the Filipino barber again, Kayti. He works for the same barber franchise. He does funny little dance steps while he cuts hair. He prances backwards and forwards while studying the head of hair like he is going to build an opera house, and then snips away at a furious pace.
He made me nervous. The choice is him or back to the girl with the flu. I could go to a totally different one, but…?
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July 30, 2017 at 5:13 am |
Ah, yes! the ‘help in moving the child’ syndrome. I know it well.
(It DOES feel great to be needed though)
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July 31, 2017 at 1:03 am |
Families that help each other seem to be a thing of the past. People move around because of real estate advantages, not at all interested in putting down roots.
People now volunteer to visit the lonely and lost, as many relatives are not interested in keeping contact.
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August 3, 2017 at 2:09 am
It is sad that those times have changed so much.
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July 30, 2017 at 12:09 pm |
Oh dear! What a drama, Gerard. So much for 2 honest guys. I have read about these fraudsters but not read yet about someone experiencing it for real. We as parents are always here to help with the movingout – or rather: moving back and forth, back and forth in my son’s case! Skaal! ( Danish cheers)
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July 31, 2017 at 1:06 am |
Removalists are specialists. The 2 men and a truck were just hopeless. Did not even fill their hired truck and just wanted to clock up hours to increase earnings. It’s our daughter’s second move, hopefully she will stay put for decades.
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July 31, 2017 at 1:28 am
Unconscionable behaviour!
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July 30, 2017 at 6:20 pm |
You had every right to be pissed. Such a mess with guys that tried to rip off your daughter.
Of course we “old folks” have a right to be pissed. I’m pissed off about half the time.
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July 31, 2017 at 1:09 am |
Glad to find a kindred soul. Old age has the advantage that one can become a bit more adventurous, after all, the few years left might as well be enjoyed to the max. Nothing to lose and everything to be gained.
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July 31, 2017 at 3:53 am
Absolutley , Gerard. Our time is limited and that is one reason I stay pissed off about half the time. 🙂
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July 31, 2017 at 10:55 pm
Yes, there is no end to our remaining possibilities of being ‘pissed off.’ Our Prime Minister’ keeps appearing on TV re terrorism levels, advising us to remain alert but not alarmed.
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July 31, 2017 at 12:46 pm |
Me? I love bumping up against hunkey-dory. That was a big expression in our family back in the day, and when all is going well, and someone asks me how things are, I’m quite likely to say they’re hunkey-dory.
Moving is such a pain, even when all goes as it should. But believe me — if you think there are complications to helping a child move, you should help a parent move. Especially when the parent doesn’t want to move, and is intent on making things as difficult as possible, it can reach comic-opera level quickly.
Your daughter’s certainly does have a nice balcony. Which direction does it face? I always prefer east, but I have west, and right now, during the height of our summer, it’s not the place to be. but October is coming.
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July 31, 2017 at 11:10 pm |
Yes, Linda. Things could easily reverse whereby our daughter at some stage into the future might help to move us. I wonder how difficult we might turn out to be.
The ‘even-tide’ or ‘setting sun’ retirement villages are witness to many who spent their final years into blissful forgetfulness. Memory fading with aphasia slowly coming to the fore.
Our daughter’s balcony faces north, which of course is the sunny side on this hemisphere. It might be a bit hot in summer, but a green curtain of potted plants will give shade.
Today is first of August and already the days are getting longer and soon our garden will be ablaze with colour.
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July 31, 2017 at 11:57 pm |
We can all use a bit of irritation on occasion, Girard. I save most of mine for electronic gadgets. Peggy is known to leave the room on occasion. Moving is one of the biggest irritants of all, however, even when it goes perfectly! –Curt
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August 1, 2017 at 3:46 am |
Yes, moving house is sometimes seen on par with a funeral saying goodbye to a dear friend, Curt.
Our daughter is still young and much more able to withstand the trauma of moving.
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August 1, 2017 at 3:56 am
Also, divorce and getting a new job, I’ve read. It’s right among the top reasons for stress! My trauma about moving will be handled in the fur by having someone else do it. 🙂
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August 1, 2017 at 5:33 am |
This throws some light on ‘moving house.’
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-01/could-moving-house-often-be-bad-for-us/8762984
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August 2, 2017 at 1:17 am |
Oh, yes, of course, you are allowed! 🙂 And, yes, you did the right thing!
Moving is hard work and stressful, even when it goes well.
Glad it is all settled down now…and I hope your daughter enjoys her new home and makes many happy memories there! The balcony is so beautiful and looks like it will be a stress-reliever…to sit out there and breath, have a meal with friends or family. 🙂
I’ve heard and used “hunkey dorey”, but never knew how it originated.
HUGS!!! 🙂
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August 2, 2017 at 10:53 pm |
I always thought that ‘hunkey dorey’ was an Australian expression. It turns out to be US origin.
The daughter is very happy and is ‘over the moon’ with the balcony. Hugs too
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August 2, 2017 at 4:30 am |
I just read an article in the SMH. It says Alcohol is associated with 5000 deaths and more than 150,000 hospitalisations in Australia each year. They say Ice does not cause as many deaths.
To me there is a great difference. It is of course sad that some people cannot handle alcohol and end up needing treatment. But I think of those people who consume alcohol regularly only a small percentage end up with problems. On the other hand of those people who use Ice regularly, what percentage of those people have no health problems caused by ice? Does not everyone who uses ice end up with very severe health problems?
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/alcohol-a-bigger-scourge-than-meth-doctors-criticise-disappointing-drug-strategy-20170801-gxmra3.html
The following is some of what it says in that article of the SMH:
“Doctors have criticised state and federal governments over their new drug policy blueprint, accusing them of putting too much emphasis on methamphetamine and not enough on a much more damaging and deadly substance: alcohol.
The Australian Medical Association says the recently released National Drug Strategy – which sets out the official approach to preventing and minimising drug harm over the next 10 years – focuses too much on the so-called “ice epidemic”.
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August 2, 2017 at 5:40 am |
I think too that excessive alcohol abuse is a far greater problem than ice but only in as much that many more people drink alcohol than people using ice.
Australia is depressingly high in ice use. But alcohol is even higher.
And yesterday, statistics came out that sexual abuse, both at university and amongst general population is also one of the highest in the world.
Perhaps the answer lies in educating young people at a much earlier age in social responsibility. All that aim in being ‘winners’ might not all that it is cracked up to be.
It makes for bullying.
Look how our government is now bullying refugees. It is terrifying. How many of those ministers responsible for their continuing torture went through the private school system?
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August 2, 2017 at 7:00 am |
I dunno, Gez, I suspect they’re gilding the lily with this survey. Even lingering over a lovely decolletage for a second too long is counted as sexual assault these days.
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August 2, 2017 at 10:27 am
Yes, but when the lingering includes a tipple with a nipple that is unwanted or imposed while in an intoxicated state ? Then what, Big M?
It’s best to stick to bias bowling and a cuppa.
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August 2, 2017 at 11:26 am
Unwanted lingering with a tiple on board? Positively lecherous.
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